AI Agents

Lately, I’ve found most of my customer service interactions are done by chatbot. Sometimes the chatbot will take me to a knowledge base article. Sometimes it’ll gather some basic information and send me to a human representative. And sometimes, it will resolve my issue itself. For example, if I need to initiate a return, it will email me a mailing label and instructions. This latter version is leaps and bounds beyond the chatbots of yesteryear and is a version of technology known as an AI Agent.

AI Agents are software programs designed to autonomously perform tasks, make decisions, or assist with specific functions by leveraging artificial intelligence technologies. They operate based on inputs from users, data, or the environment, and are capable of learning, adapting, and making decisions without constant human intervention. The use of AI Agents is projected to increase substantially in the coming years as technology improves and computational power increases (see chart below).

AI Agents can be beneficial to both businesses and consumers.

For Businesses:

• Enhanced Efficiency and Productivity: AI Agents can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks so human employees can focus on strategic initiatives and complex problem-solving.
• Cost Reduction: By streamlining operations and reducing the need for manual intervention, businesses can lower operational costs and allocate resources more effectively.
• Improved Customer Service: AI Agents provide consistent, 24/7 support and can handle customer inquiries promptly, enhancing customer satisfaction.
• Data-Driven Insights: These agents can analyze large amounts of data to identify trends and patterns to support decision-making and strategic planning.

For Consumers:

• Personalized Experiences: AI Agents tailor services and recommendations to individual preferences, leading to better user engagement and customer satisfaction.
• Faster Response Times: Immediate assistance and support from AI Agents improve the overall customer experience by addressing needs without delay.
• Enhanced Accessibility: AI Agents can assist individuals with disabilities by providing support through voice recognition and other adaptive technologies.

AI Agents can be beneficial in numerous industries from healthcare, where agents can support patient care, to financial services, where agents can provide financial planning guidance, and retail, where agents can address customer service inquiries. Of course, we are nowhere near having an AI Agent deliver medical diagnoses or change retirement plan allocations, but perhaps that will change in the not-so-distant future.

In the meantime, other than the businesses that employ AI Agents, the other companies that stand to benefit from this technology are the ones that enable it – the Platform as a Service model that we so like here at Somar. There are many of the usual players, such as Microsoft Azure (Azure Bot Service), AWS (Amazon Lex), and Google Cloud (Dialogflow CX), but some new entrants, like Cohere, focus on building AI applications for the enterprise. Somar will continue to follow this space as a potential user (I’d love an AI Agent assistant to help me manage my calendar), and of course as an investor.

-        Pedro Ramos